Last week, some Instagram users reported seeing in-app ads for a photo messaging app dubbed "Bolt." Rumor has it that Bolt will be Instagram's version of Snapchat and the app could drop as early as this week.

Bolt would join Instagram Messenger, Slingshot and WhatsApp as a Facebook-owned photo messaging solution. But beyond standing out in a crowded space (in the same company no less), Bolt's biggest problems might come down to its name.

It turns out, there is already a mobile communications app called Bolt. And that Bolt, isn't happy about the prospect of a Facebook-owned app sharing the same name.

Although Bolt isn't a photo messaging app — its goal is to replace your phone carrier's voice and SMS plan — it is understandably concerned about another messaging app sharing its name.

Benton told TechCrunch that it already filed a trademark application for the name "Bolt" as it relates to mobile messaging. That application is still pending.

On its company blog, co-founder and CEO Andrew Benton urging Instagram (and Facebook) to use another name so that the two parties can avoid legal nastiness.

"We've worked really hard since then building the Bolt brand and technology to where it is today. Please don't destroy all that effort."

App name dust-ups

Bolt is just the latest in a growing number of app name collisions. It's not uncommon for different companies to come up with similar ideas — and similar names — for products and services.

In February, FiftyThree, maker of the iPad illustration app Paper, publicly asked Facebook to change the name of its news reader, Paper. Facebook apologized for the confusion, but declined to change the name of its app.

In May, the original owner of the domain Swarmapp.com, expressed outrage on Medium after Foursquare bought the domain from him to launch its own Swarm app, which had a similar motif.

Name collisions aren't limited to just apps; Cisco acquired the trademark to the name "iPhone" in 2000, seven years before Apple announced its first smartphone. Apple and Cisco resolved the dispute over the name before the iPhone was released in June 2007.

The more common the word, the more contentious trademarks over that word can be. Google is currently trying to trademark Glass under the context of wearable computing, but its facing blowback from the USPTO.

These types of collisions are increasingly difficult to navigate when it comes to digital objects, because trademarks can be granted for seemingly similar, yet different enough, purposes.

With generic words such as "paper," "swarm" and "bolt," securing a trademark that is enforceable could be difficult or impossible — especially if the opposing side has the backing of a large entity such as Facebook.

For its part, Bolt hopes Facebook and Instagram will consider rebranding the app before its release.

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